LINGUIST List 20.2929
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Mon Aug 31 2009
Qs: Tense Selection in English Conditionals
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Directory
1. Les
Zsoldos,
Tense Selection in English Conditionals
Message 1: Tense Selection in English Conditionals
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Date: 29-Aug-2009
From: Les Zsoldos <lgzhknu.ac.kr>
Subject: Tense Selection in English Conditionals
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In English we can classify conditionals as Types 0, 1, 2, and 3. For
example, we have:
If I go to bed late, I wake up late. 0
If I go to bed late, I'll wake up late. 1
If I went to bed late, I'd wake up late. 2
If I'd gone to bed late, I'd have woken up late. 3
However, people often use structures such as ''Would you mind if I smoke''?
rather than ''Would you mind if I smoked?'' Why is this? Is present tense
OK here? Is it a case of confusion where present should be with ''do you
mind'' as in ''Do you mind if I smoke?''
Les Zsoldos
Linguistic Field(s):
Syntax
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